Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

The High King

The High King by Lloyd Alexander

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Getting to the end of writing reviews around the Prydain Chronicles doesn’t feel too different from getting to the end of the Prydain Chronicles. The experience is bittersweet, my love of these stories remains complete. The High King opens with an intense moment, as Gurgi and Taran returning on the road are waylaid by their friend Caw the crow who reports danger along their way. They rush back to Caer Dallben, to find a council in place to determine how to finally end the threat […]

M for Mature

Sensor by Junji Ito

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It was Saturday and I had two options, stay at home and do laundry and not get any reading done, or take an hour or two at the library and try and get some reading done. Besides, I had to pick up some interlibrary loans anyway. I picked the library (now, you need to understand that I work at an independent bookstore, where I have access to free books, usually brand new, never touched reader copies, not like that library version of Nimona that had […]

Second time is a charm

Nimona by N.D Stevenson

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I first read Nimona by N.D Stevenson in 2019 (but my version had their dead name). My main takeaway from this recent read was how the theme itself has not changed, but our perceptions of it might have. I know mine did. I didn’t even know what a dead name was four years ago. It would never have occurred to me that it is harmful to misgender or dead-name someone. In those few years, a lot has happened, and I hope I have grown past […]

A Book to Kick Me Out of my Reading Funk

The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda

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Bingo Square: North America A group of teens goes on a volunteering trip with their school, only to be the victims of a tragic accident. There are nine survivors, but on the first anniversary of the accident, one of them kills themselves. Reeling from shock, the remaining eight make a pact to be there for each other, and on every subsequent anniversary they meet at a beach house for a week. Checking in, being there, even though, as adults now, they have little to nothing […]

“My child will know they are wanted and that their dad won’t leave them.”

Unexpecting by Jen Bailey

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If you’re not new to this site, you’re probably aware that I took a less than conventional path to parenting – having stepped in to help raise my niblings after the death of their mom. So I’m no stranger to the complete panic of finding yourself responsible for the complete care & well-being of tiny humans.  But I was a grown woman by the time I had to assume this overwhelming responsibility, and Benjamin Morrison, the main character of Unexpecting by Jen Bailey, is just starting […]

Taran Wanderer

Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander

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This is my favorite of the Prydain Chronicles, no question. It is character development from start to finish, which in my opinion is when you get the best stories. Fresh from leaving Eilonwy on the isle of Mona, Taran is restless, tormented by thoughts of the romance he left unfinished with her and feeling aimless and unsure of his destiny. To solve this, he decides to seek out his parentage and hope to learn his name and what he will be aside from an assistant […]



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